19th July 2013 06:14
While Cestonaro's victory drew the loudest cheers, Thiam's was perhaps the most impressive as she produced five personal bests from the seven disciplines to finish with 6081 points, 60 more than her previous highest score.
Thiam led from the second event on day one and recorded PBs in the hurdles, long jump, shot, javelin and 800m to finish 217 points ahead of Sofia Linde who bagged Sweden's first heptathlon medal since Carolina Klüft won gold in 2001.
Marjolein Lindemans won a close battle for bronze with Nadine Visser of the Nethlerands as the first 11 athletes all set PBs. Lindemans ended with 5831, beating Visser by 57.
'My main target this year was to win a medal in Rieti,' said Thiam, who missed out at the Wiorld Juniors in Barceloan last year. 'Plus, I broke Tia's national record so I am more than happy.
'I love the heptathlon. I will probably go to Moscow [for the IAAF World Championships] but as I said my main goal was Rieti. I am glad I could win and not succumb to the pressure and expectations of others.'
Expectations were certainly high for Cestonaro whose victory, though not record-breaking, was no less dramatic for that as the Italian leapt from from sixth to first with her final effort to snatch gold from Elena Panturoiu.
The Romanian had led from the second round with her personal best of 13.36 but had to watch the title slip from her grasp when Cestonaro leapt out to 13.41.
Panturoiu did her best to respond but her sixth jump landed at 13.14 prompting wild cheers from the crowd as the scoreboard confirmed the host nation's their first gold of the championships.
'I have demonstrated to myself and to everyone that I can do whatever I want,' said the ecstatic Cestonaro afterwards before dedicating the medal to her grandmother who passed away last year.
'I have jumped for her this afternoon,' she said. 'My family and my father, who is my trainer, were with me, plus the president of Italian athletics federation, Alfio Giomi. Thanks to everyone who helped me today and all those here in Rieti who produced the last clap for victory.'
It was tough for Panturoiu, who was never fancied for a medal, never mind the gold. But she had to be content with silver ahead of Spain's 2012 world junior champion, Ana Peleteiro, who produced her best performance of the year to take bronze with 13.29.
Record runs secure 400m golds
Thiam wasn't the only record-breaking winner as it took national junior records to win both 400m finals.
Pavel Ivashko became the first Russian to win the men's one-lap title as he led from start to finish to beat Poland's Patryk Dobek in 45.81 while Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz broke her own Polish junior record to defeat the defending champion Bianca Razor in a hotly contested women's final.
Wyciszkiewicz came off the final bend trailing Russia's Ekaterina Renzhina but powered away down the home straight to clock 51.56, taking more than half a second from her personal best.
Razor was aiming to become the first woman ever to retain the European junior 400m crown but the Romanian had to be content with silver and a PB of 51.82 to go with the gold she won in Tallinn.
Dobek chased Ivashko hard down the finishing straight of the men's final but despite breaking his own PB with 46.15 was left some two metres adrift.
Thomas Jordier seemed to be out of contention 100m from home but he finished strongly to claim bronze with a French junior record of 46.21.
France and Britain dash to victory
The two dash finals went to athletes from those ever-strong sprinting nations, Britain and France.
Britain's Chijindu Ujah was perhaps a surprise winner of the men's 100m ahead of pre-championships favourite Denis Dimitrov, while Stella Akakpo lived up to expectations by taking the women's crown despite the sttrong challenge of another Briton, Sophie Papps.
Dimitrov has led the standings since he clocked 10.16 in June, but the Bulgarian couldn't get close to that this afternoon as Ujah coped best with a -1.5m/s headwind to add his name to Britain's long list of European sprint champions.
He pulled clear over the second half the race, taking the tape in 10.40 while Dimitrov clocked 10.46 leaving Germany's Robert Polkowski with bronze in 10.53.
Akakpo became the first French winner of the women's title since Odiah Sidibé in 1989 but cool conditions and -1m/s headwind prevented her getting close to Jodie Williams' championships' record of 11.18, which appeared on the cards when she opened her account with 11.26 yesterday morning.
Akakpo led from the gun in the final and maintained her form to break the tape in 11.52.
Field finals fall to Britain and Russia
There was a second gold for Britain in the men's long jump thanks to Elliot Safo who produced a super series to win a tense tussle with Belgium's Mathias Broothaerts who had topped the qualifiers yesterday.
Safo came to the championships ranked fifth on paper and second Briton behind the more favoured Feron Sayers. But he improved his PB twice to take the gold by 2cm with 7.86 and was a model of consistency throughout the six rounds. He had five jumps beyond 7.70 and his worst effort was 7.60.
Broothaerts took silver with 7.84, a PB for him by 19cm, while Frenchman Guy-Elphège Anouman won bronze with 7.60.
Marco Bortolato added to great day for the hosts when he won a hammer bronze as Valeriy Pronkin took a hugely anticipated gold by almost a metre from Bence Pásztor of Hungary.
The Russian favourite wasn't quite at his 80-metre best, but he didn't need to be as three of his four scoring throws were better than anyone else, topped by a fifth round effort of 78.34.
Pásztor was second throughout, and claimed silver with a personal best of 77.35 while Bortolato threw 73.43 in round four to take bronze ahead of Germany's Simon Lang.
The was another Russian success in the throws when Natalya Shirobokova overcame event favourite Tetyana Yuryeva to win the discus.
Yuryeva was the early leader, but Shirobokova produced her best in round three to take the lead with 54.21 and that was enough to secure the title.
Yuryeva lay second with 53.15 but couldn't get close to her best of 57.08 which is more than a metre and a half further than anyone else in the field. Poland's Karolina Makul then produced a personal best of 53.25 to snatch silver from the Ukrainian in the final round.
Sprint & hurdles semis
Huge cheers greeted Italian sprint hurdler Lorenzo Perini's return to the Rieti track where he set a championships record this morning. Headwinds and drizzly conditions mitigated against a repeat this afternoon, and Perini had his work cut out to beat Frenchman Wilhem Belocian in 13.53, more than two tenths slower than this morning.
Britain's David Omoregie and Brahan Peí±a of Switzerland will be on Perini's heels in the final. Omoregie got the verdict over Peí±a this morning, but the Swiss came out ahead in their semi-final this afternoon, 13.52 to 13.54.
Another Swiss hurdler, Noemi Zbí¤ren, looks favourite for the women's event, although the World Junior silver medallist will face a stiff challenge from Germany's Franziska Hofmann in tomorrow's final.
Zbí¤ren worked hard to win her semi in 13.37, while Hofmann was only a hundredth slower winning her race, her quickest performance of the season. At her best, Zbí¤ren has much to spare, but Hofmann is in form to pile on the pressure.
Ireland's Sarah Lavin and French pair Awa Sene and Heloise Kane should be in the frame for bronze after they came smoothly through the semis.
Dina Asher-Smith goes into the women's 200m final as a secure favourite after equalling her personal best of 23.14 in the semi-finals, 0.34 quicker than the next fastest, Anna-Lena Freese of Germany. The Briton won her heat by some five metres.
Tessa Van Schagen also ran a PB to win her semi-final in 23.49 ahead of Asher-Smith's teammate Desiree Henry. These four will surely contest the medals.
A trio of Britons topped the men's 200m heats, led by Leon Reid who dipped under 21 seconds for the first time, clocking 20.85. Little slower were his double-barrelled compatriots Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Matthew Hudson-Smith, who ran 21.05 and 21.09 respectively.
The top-ranked Frenchman Mickael-Meba Zeze was the best of the rest with 21.13.